When a pickpocket got my credit cards, it set me thinking about the difference between theft and sharing.

The thief got my credit cards; I got nothing.

In no time, the thief was “sharing” expensive electronics goods. The stores got paid nothing.

My pocket was picked without my consent. The thief took electronics goods from the stores without their real consent.

It seems that theft is unilateral, an exercise of power by one person over another; and sharing is bilateral, the result of mutual consent.

Perhaps successful sharing depends on the sharing group members looking consistently for each other's consent.

Perhaps establishing a successful sharing group depends on finding people willing to look consistently for each other's consent?